i am more than a bit surprised that Marine Cabirou did not make the swith to the Mondraker Factory Racing team this year, being a welcome female presence on the team that has been absent since Ragot retired. Good on voulvoul to continue their support of her after her very good 2017 season though!

i would think that a m9 is actually a bike that could run a modern air shock fairly successfully given the most progressive frame mount.
Also, given the widely different leverage rates on the different vpp bikes that have been produced over the years, the quoted statement is too unspecific to be accurate - though, he is of course entitled to his opinion. For instance a nomad 4 would work exceedingly well with an air shock. It is not as if it is a vpp or not bike that decides if a coil or air is the better option or not - but the leverage rate of the specific application of the design :)

@MTBrent: sure, but then again - what do people remember from when Gee won in Val di Sole - his win or Hill's epic run including his crash? I know i think of that race as the race Tracey gave away, not the one Miranda smashed out of the ball park.
I remember Miranda's run as being a bit anti climatic and one of those "waiting-for-the-big-guns-to-ride-kinda runs, where all the big guns then went on to choke, while the way that Miranda nailed it for me at least really was only apparent after the final rider had come down - and i went "what the... Did Miranda just win? Hell yeah!". That being said, i was super stoked that she won - but highlight of the year? Perhaps, but only on a Canadian site ;) Surprise of the year? Sure, i did not see Miranda winning on such a pedally track, but that just made it all the nicer when it happened :)

@fabdemaere: I see now that what you referred to above is correct though, so thanks for sharing. Oddly the three year length of the YT mob contracts has not been mentioned in any of the other rumor threads as far as i can remember, but then i have not been following them that closely. With this being you know rumors and not a doctoral research, my research on the matter is as you so succinctly point out, non-existent. Kinda like your ability to convey information without it being a put down. Oh well. I guess just typing " The YT mob are on three year contracts" with a link would not been as easy.
but year three for the YT mob should be good.

Perhaps the biggest rumor that is not being addressed above: The Mob loosing the YT part of the moniker. True? I have no idea. Personally i really like the vibe of the YT Mob, but then that ain't going to change much just due to a new, bigger named frame.
also, hasn't it pretty much been confirmed that the new Canyon bike that is so sender'esque in shape is a new Canyon Torque? I would be kind of surprised if Canyon decided to ditch the Strive design rather than seeking to refine it gradually. It is pretty darn good as is, if a bit steeper up front than it could be. The frames have been updated since they first were released and are still doing more than well both sales wise (as far as i know) and test wise. Replacing it with a non-bottle front triangle seems to be an odd thing to do for an enduro race bike - as bottles are all the rage now, while transitioning the current strive to a 29'er with a similar frame/geo would make a lot of sense. But then again, there are rumors of a second new Canyon long travel enduro bike, so that might be the strive replacement being tested.

actually, imo with cesar rojo coming aboard and doing their kinematics and helping design the bikes, Intense are about as up to date wrt to the dh bike as it is possible to be. Overpriced - sure, outdated - surely not (or, their graphics kinda are :) )